Air-pump.



B. 0. GAGE.

AIR PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1912.

1,058,172. Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CU.,WI\SHINGTON, D C.

B. 0. GAGE.

AIR PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1912.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

coummn I'LANOGRAFH cu wAs nma'mN. u. c,

B. O. GAGE.

AIR PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAYB, 1912.

1,058, 1 72. Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEBT 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOOnAPH 00.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

ATEN OFT.

BURT O. GAGE, 0F WARREN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WARREN STEAM PUMP COMPANY, OF WARREN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

AIR-PUMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Apr. 8, 1913.

Application filed May 8, 1912. Serial No. 695,878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BURT O. GAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Warren, county of \Vorcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Air-Pumps, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to an air pump especially adapted among other uses to be employed on naval vessels in connection with a condenser.

The present invention has for its object to provide a pump of maximum efiicienc'y, which is of minimum size and weight, whereby the same is particularly adapted for use on torpedo boats and other naval vessels where floor space, head room and weight are important factors. To this end the pump is provided with a solid piston, which reciprocates in a cylinder in communication at its lower end with a chamber provided with a bottom wall having fluid inlet ports, and provided also with a fluid outlet for the lower end of the cylinder, and said chamber communicates through said fluid inlet ports with a suction inlet chamber located below it and connected by an'air inlet passage with the upper end of the cylinder, said air inlet passage being provided with an automatic valve which is opened on the down stroke of the piston and closed on the upstroke thereof. The chamber with which the lower end of the cylinder communicates is for the best results of larger area than said cylinder, and its bottom wall is provided with fluid inlet ports within the area of the cylinder and with additional inlet ports outside of the area of said cylinder, and the suction inlet chamber is made of large enough area to supply fluid to the cylinder through said additional inlet ports. These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is an elevation with parts broken away of a pump embodying this invention. Fig. 2, an enlarged horizontal section on the line 22, Fig. 4. Fig. 3, an enlarged horizontal section on the line 3-3, Fig. 4. Fig. 4, an enlarged vertical section of the air pump shown in Fig. 1, and, Figs. 5 and 6, details to be referred to.

Referring to the drawings, a represents the air pump cylinder and b a solid piston which reciprocates therein and has its rod 0 connected with the piston (not shown) of the steam cylinder d, which may be of any suitable or desired construction, and as it operates in a manner well understood and forms no part of the present invention a detailed description of the same is deemed unnecessary. The pump cylinder a at its lower end is in open communication with a chamber 10, see Fig. 4, having a bottom wall 12, provided with ports or openings 18 arranged within an area equal in diameter to the diameter of the cylinder at and preferably having additional ports 14, see Fig. 3. circumferentially arranged in the area beyond the diameter of the cylinder at, for a purpose as will be described. The cylinder at is located within a casing 16 of larger diameter, which is connected with the cylinder a by an annular and preferably downwardly inclined wall or partition 17, located near the lower end of the cylinder a and forming the top wall of the enlarged portion or chamber 1.0. The casing 16 is also provided within it with vertical partitions 18, 19, see Figs. 3 and 4, which separate the space between the cylinder a and the casing 16 into two passages 20, 21, which may be designated respectively an air inlet and a fluid discharge passage. The air inlet passage 20 is in open communication with the upper end of the cylinder (1 through a port 22, and is adapted to be connected through ports 28 with a suction chamber 24 located below the wall 17 and extended under the bottom wall 12 of the chamber 10 and provided with an inlet port 25, which is designed to be connected by a pipe 26 with the condenser or like apparatus (not shown).

The ports 13, 14 in the bottom wall 12 form inlet ports from the suction chamber 24 into the chamber 10, which latter forms an enlargement of the cylinder at, and said ports are controlled by automatic valves 30, which may be of. any suitable or desired construction, which are opened on the up stroke of the piston b and closed by springs 31 on the down stroke thereof.

The ports 23 in the bottom wall of the air inlet passage 20 have cooperating with them automatic valves 32 of any suitable or desired construction, which are closed on the up stroke of the piston b and opened on the down stroke thereof.

The cylinder is provided at its upper end as herein shown with a head 34 having ports 35, which are controlled by automatic valves 36 of any suitable or desired construction and opened on the up stroke of the piston and closed on the down stroke thereof. The casing 16 is extended above the cylinder a and is provided with a cover 37 and partition wall 38, which form with the head 34 an air outlet chamber 39, having an outlet port 40 in the partition wall, which is in open communication with the discharge passage 21, with which communicates a discharge pipe 41. The casing 16 may be connected with the cylinder by suitable tie bars or strengthening rods 42 and is provided with a hand hole 43 for the discharge passage, and with a hand hole 44 for the air inlet passage 20, said hand holes being normally closed ifuid tight by suitable covers 4c'5 16. The casing 16 may also be provided with a hand hole 47 through which access may be had to the inlet valves 30, and said hand hole is normally closed by a suitable cover (not shown). The head 34 and cover 37 are provided with suitable stuffing boxes 49, 50 through which the piston rod 0 is passed. The bottom wall 51 of the suction inlet chamber 241- may be provided with an opening which is closed by a plug or cap 52, for manufacturing purposes. The bottom wall 17 for the discharge passage 21 is provided with ports 5% controlled by automatic valves 55, which form outlet valves for the lower end of the cylinder and the chamber 10, and are opened on the down stroke of the piston b and closed on the up stroke thereof.

The operation of the pump may be briefly described as follows :The piston b on its up stroke draws water and air from the suction inlet chamber 24: through the ports 13, 1 1 into the chamber 10 and up into the cylinder a, the valves 30 being automatically opened. On the down stroke of the piston, the water and air in the cylinder at below the piston Z) and in the enlargement or chamber 10 is forced out through the ports 54: into the discharge passage 21, the inlet valves 30 being automatically closed by the springs 31 assisted by the pressure. On the down stroke, a vacuum is created in the cylinder above the piston b and in the air inlet passage 20, and the valves 32 are automatically opened, thereby allowing the air in the suction inlet chamber 24 and in the inlet pipe 26 to flow through the passage 20 and pass through the port 22 into the cylinder above the piston. The air admitted into the cylinder above the piston, is compressed on the up stroke of the piston and forced through the ports 35 into the chamber 39, from which it passes through the port 40 into the discharge passage 21 and pipe 41. It will be noticed that on the down stroke of the piston, the latter is effective in drawing air from the suction chamber and con denser for the full length of the down stroke, whereby a maximum quantity or volume of air is taken from the suction chamber and condenser on each down stroke of the pump. It will be noticed that on the up stroke of the piston a maximum quantity of water and air or water alone is drawn from the suction chamber and condenser, owing to the large port area for the suction chamber and the large capacity of the cylinder and its enlargement 10, and on the down stroke of the piston a maximum quantity of water and air or water alone is forced through the ports 5 1 into the discharge passage 21. As a result, a very etficient air pump is obtained, which occupies a small floor space and head room and is of minimum weight, which are very important factors in marine work and especially in torpedo boats and other naval vessels.

By reference to Fig. 8, it will be seen that the bottom wall 12 is provided with seven inlet ports 13 for water and air, which are arranged within a circle of the same area as the cylinder at, and in addition is provided with eight inlet ports 14 located outside of said area, which enables a materially greater quantity of water to be drawn into the chamber 10 and cylinder a on the up stroke of the piston, which is forced through the outlet ports- 54 in the upper wall 17 of the chamber 10 into the discharge passage 21, which feature enables a very small, compact and light pump to handle a large or substantially large volume of water from the condenser.

By providing the discharge for the water at the bottom of the cylinder, the piston 7) can be made solid or valveless and the benefit of the suction of the air for the full down stroke of the piston obtained, whereby the pump is enabled to handle a large or substantially large volume of air from the condenser, which is discharged through the ports 34: on the up stroke of the piston.

"While it is preferred to extend the suction chamber 24 beyond the walls of the cylinder so as to obtain the benefit of the additional water inlet ports14c, it is not desired to limit the invention in this respect, as a very efficient pump would be obtained with a suction chamber of only the diameter of the cylinder and provided with only the center water inlet ports 13. Provision may be made for admitting a limited quantity of water from the discharge passage 21 into the cylinder a near the upper end of the latter, so as to insure a water seal between the piston b and its cylinder, and this may be accomplished as shown in Fig. 6 by providing the wall of the cylinder a with a port- 60, which leads to a vertical passage 61 formed in the casing 16 and communicating with the discharge passage 21. The quantity of water which is permitted to pass into the cylinder through the port 60 may be regulated by a plug valve 62, which is accessible from outside of the casing.

I have herein shown one embodiment of this invention, but it is not desired to limit the invention to the particular construction shown.

Claims:

1. In a pump of the character described, in combination, a casing, a cylinder located in said casing, substantially vertical partition walls between said cylinder and casing forming a water discharge passage, and an air passage which communicates with the upper end of said cylinder, a substantially horizontal partition between said casing and the lower end of said cylinder forming the bottom walls of said passages and provided with ports, automatically operated valves controlling said ports, a chamber located within said casing below said cylinder and forming an enlargement thereof, and having a bottom wall of greater area than the area of said cylinder, and provided with ports within the area ofthe cylinder and with additional ports outside the area of said cylinder, a suction inlet chamber located below said bottom wall and communicating with the said cylinder and with said air passage and having an inlet port for water and air, automatically operated valves in said bottom wall controlling communication between said suction chamber and said cylinder, a head for the upper end of said cylinder provided with outlet ports and automatically operated valves controlling the same, a chamber located above said head and communicating with said discharge passage,

and a solid piston located in said cylinder and capable of reciprocating therein, substantially as described- 2. In a pump of the character described, in combination, a cylinder in communication at its lower end with an enlarged chamber provided with a bottom wall having a plurality of fluid inlet ports within the area of said cylinder and with additional inlet ports outside of the area of said cylinder, valves controlling said ports, a suction inlet chamber located below said enlarged chamber and communicating with the latter through said ports, and a solid piston reciprocating in said cylinder.

3. In a pump of the character described, in combination, a cylinder in communication at its lower end with an enlarged chamber provided with a bottom wall having a plurality of fluid inlet ports within the area of said cylinder and with additional inlet ports outside of the area of said cylinder, valves controlling said ports, a suction inlet chamber located below said enlarged chamber, and communicating with the latter through said ports, an air inlet passage communicating with the upper end of said cylindex, a valve controlling said passage, and a solid piston reciprocating in said cylinder.

4:. In a pump of the character described, in combination, a cylinder in communication at one end with a chamber of greater diameter than said cylinder, a suction inlet chamber located beyond said chamber, automatic valves controlling the passage of fluid from said suction inlet chamberinto said chamber of greater diameter and located within and outside of an area equal to the diameter of the said cylinder, and a piston reciprocating in said cylinder.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses' BURT O. GAGE.

WVitnesses:

JAS- H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I. G. 

